On May 19, a blood drive was held in Arlington in honor of my son, Elliot Carbajal, who was killed there in December of 2009. He was a multi-gallon donor and his family decided to carry on the tradition of donating blood in his memory. This was the third annual blood drive coordinated by Elliot’s brothers and sisters. This year was huge! Two buses were brought in and those who couldn’t donate were asked to bring food for the food bank. This year a barbecue grill was added, as well as a band, “Brad Loomis and The Resonance”.
Baked goods, juice and water were available. Fred Meyer donated four fruit trays and Albertsons donated a croissant sandwich platter and a wrap platter. This drive was a huge success. My granddaughter, Vanessa, was in charge of a raffle for three categories and she did a fantastic job. The raffle consisted of three gift baskets which included Olive Garden gift cards, sparkling cider, Walker’s Coffee gift cards, Moose Creek Barbecue Sauce and more.
The goal this year was for at least 100 donors. There was 93 registered and quite a few “walk ons.” We also gathered more than 200 pounds of food for the food bank. I’d like to thank all the supporters of this drive, all the donors (including a few “first timers”) who came and gave of themselves for a worthy cause. To my family, a huge “well done” as usual. See you all again next year.
Joe Carbajal
Marysville
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